It's Quiet Uptown

Chapter Nineteen: Happy Birthday

A Few Weeks Later
Groff's POV

    Unluckily for me, my 31st birthday was on a Saturday - a two-show day. Lin, in all his boundless energy, insisted on having Javier do the first show so he could set up my 'surprise' birthday party. The man could keep secrets from the public, but not from me.

    Lin insisted on giving me his birthday present at night, thus totally giving it away. I didn't mind though. Lin was good in bed. Well, after he got over the shock of the first time, anyway.

    When the one hour till showtime alarm resounded through the theater, Lin ushered me from where I stood talking to Lacamoire and Daveed into our dressing room. He plopped himself down in the chair and watched impatiently as I donned my King George regalia.

    I laughed at him. "You gonna watch me strip down?"

    To my disappointment, he didn't flush. "I've seen you naked. Get on with it."

    I huffed. "You could at least be polite."

    He waved his hand dismissively. "You're a thirty-one-year-old man, not an old woman. I think you can handle some disrespect."

    I rolled my eyes at him, though amusement glowed in my chest. "Sure, hon."

    After I'd gotten on the red and gold clothes, I grabbed my wig and makeup before retreating in a (what I hoped was) a dignified manner. However, Lin's snort as I pranced out disabused me of the notion.

    I went to the guys' dressing room and chilled with them a while. Leslie was there too, avoiding getting ready as usual. Daveed put on some rap and rapped along with Oak. Anthony, to my enjoyment, danced along to the music and got way too hyped up.

    I got kicked out after thirty minutes by the hair and makeup people, so I wandered off to the Schuyler Sisters' dressing room. I didn't barge in (even though I'm gay I still didn't feel comfortable seeing women in their undergarments) but they were dressed, so oh well.

    The girls flocked around me in their colorful dresses, each demanding hugs and giving me their well-wishes. They, of course, were already ready. Leslie could learn a thing or two from these wonderful ladies.

    When they finally let me sit down, I chatted with Renee for a bit about her kids while Pippa and Jazz sashayed around the dressing rooms, trying to outsing each other.

    When they launched into the third song they started to sing so loudly I couldn't hear Renee talking. Based on her exasperated face, this probably happened often. I hugged her goodbye and escaped while I still had my hearing.

    The ten-minute bell echoed through the theater, so everyone gathered in the wings and joked with each other before it was time. Literally everyone came by at least once to wish me a happy birthday. What can I say? Everyone loves me.

    Lin was still barricaded in our dressing room, which made me pout a little. I had gotten used to pre-show makeout sessions. I'd mainly used them to try and get him flustered into making a mistake on stage, but I still enjoyed them.

    The show went really slowly. I only spend around eleven minutes on stage, but instead of being able to prance freely around backstage, I'd been banished to the main waiting area for the actors.

    So what did I do? I tried to figure out how to tell everyone Lin and I were leaving.

    We'd talked and decided that I would leave first, in around two weeks. Then he would leave two weeks later. We didn't both need to leave at the same time, so we'd stagger it so the fans could recover.